GatorJ_MME
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Jeff
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2022
- Threads
- 7
- Messages
- 247
- Reaction score
- 173
- Location
- Raleigh, NC
- Vehicles
- 2023 Mach E Premium
- Occupation
- Electrical Engineer
- Thread starter
- #1
I took my first long trip in my '23 RWD / std range battery yesterday from Raleigh, NC to Washington, DC and back, 512 miles total. I've had the car for about 9 months and prior to yesterday have only fast charged three times. Those charging experiences were OK, but not without issue (wait times, charge stations didn't work, etc).
Note that I used Ford Nav almost exclusively throughout the trip, mostly to ensure battery preconditioning for the charging stops. It was fine, though was quite unhappy when I didn't get on the express lanes heading into DC. It wasn't really necessary at that time of day, so I opted to stay on regular I-95.
This trip was great - I left home early having charged up to 100% with temps in the low 50s, my first pit stop was about 8am at the EA station north of Richmond, VA (~160 miles from my house). This station is in the parking lot of a Walmart with eight dual-handle towers (including 1 CHAdeMO handle). There was an iX already there, but otherwise the station was empty. One station was down (no lights on the pillars, blank screen), so I pulled into one of the 150 kW Ultra stations with about 24% remaining, and plugged in. Vehicle started charging within about 20 seconds, no issues. I did see a peak of 115kW (max for a std range battery), though it quickly leveled off at 85kW where it stayed for most of the rest of the session. I unplugged 19 minutes later (64% SoC), having added ~28kW (about 88kW/hour average).
After arriving in the DC area with 20% SoC, I had some time before my meeting so I decided to charge up at the Springfield Mall EA station. Located in the back of the mall near the Target, there were only three pillars plus one Level 2 charger, and two cars present. I pulled into the remaining fast-charging slot, plugged in and again had a successful P&C session. This station was quite a bit slower - I did see a peak of ~110kW at the start, but then it quickly dropped to ~65kW, and then closer to 33kW (perhaps due to the other cars there?). I wasn't pressed for time, so walked around the mall and had coffee. I wanted to charge as much as possible to limit my charging time on the drive home that evening. So I unplugged after 58 minutes at 81% SoC, having added 43 kW (about 45kW/hour average). I got to talk with another Mach-E driver (black GTPE) for a bit before leaving, which was nice.
Later that afternoon I left DC, this time letting the Ford Nav be happy and getting on the Express Lanes. Probably saved me about 15 or 20 minutes, which is not as bad as things can be in that neck of the woods. Back on the road, I planned to stop at the same EA station north of Richmond, VA. The only downside is I would get there a bit before 4pm, so didn't want to hang around too long so I could try to beat rush hour through Richmond. I plugged in at 35% SoC and charged for 24 minutes, adding about 31kW (about 78kW/hour). This got me to 80%, which wasn't quite enough to get home so I had to do one more stop.
My final stop was in at an EA station in Henderson, NC, which is also in a Walmart parking lot. I was the only car there, but for the first time that day P&C didn't work (even though the Ford app says it should be supported). I tried P&C a second time, but then went into the Ford app and initiated the charge there. That was successful and the electrons started flowing. I only charged for 10 minutes, plugging in at 20% and ending at 42%, adding 15.3kW (~92kW/hour, though that is probably skewed by the short session). I probably could have only done a 5 minute charging session, but by the time I walked inside to use the bathroom and headed back out, the 10 minutes had almost passed.
Having Blue Cruise (1.2) for the trip was great. There are still improvements that could be made, such as not slamming on the breaks if a car changes into your lane in front of you when it isn't going that slow, but still made for a relaxing trip overall. I usually take an ICE car to the DC area, and the comfort of the Mach-E's seats plus low noise made for a much more peaceful trip (as peaceful as being in the DC area can be).
Total charge time: 111 minutes (though that was higher than necessary)
Total kW delivered by the chargers: 119.8kW
Total miles driven: 512
I didn't use a trip meter in the car so don't know the actual average efficiency, but the on-screen display typically showed between 3.1 mi/kWh and 3.5 mi/kWh.
Note that I used Ford Nav almost exclusively throughout the trip, mostly to ensure battery preconditioning for the charging stops. It was fine, though was quite unhappy when I didn't get on the express lanes heading into DC. It wasn't really necessary at that time of day, so I opted to stay on regular I-95.
This trip was great - I left home early having charged up to 100% with temps in the low 50s, my first pit stop was about 8am at the EA station north of Richmond, VA (~160 miles from my house). This station is in the parking lot of a Walmart with eight dual-handle towers (including 1 CHAdeMO handle). There was an iX already there, but otherwise the station was empty. One station was down (no lights on the pillars, blank screen), so I pulled into one of the 150 kW Ultra stations with about 24% remaining, and plugged in. Vehicle started charging within about 20 seconds, no issues. I did see a peak of 115kW (max for a std range battery), though it quickly leveled off at 85kW where it stayed for most of the rest of the session. I unplugged 19 minutes later (64% SoC), having added ~28kW (about 88kW/hour average).
After arriving in the DC area with 20% SoC, I had some time before my meeting so I decided to charge up at the Springfield Mall EA station. Located in the back of the mall near the Target, there were only three pillars plus one Level 2 charger, and two cars present. I pulled into the remaining fast-charging slot, plugged in and again had a successful P&C session. This station was quite a bit slower - I did see a peak of ~110kW at the start, but then it quickly dropped to ~65kW, and then closer to 33kW (perhaps due to the other cars there?). I wasn't pressed for time, so walked around the mall and had coffee. I wanted to charge as much as possible to limit my charging time on the drive home that evening. So I unplugged after 58 minutes at 81% SoC, having added 43 kW (about 45kW/hour average). I got to talk with another Mach-E driver (black GTPE) for a bit before leaving, which was nice.
Later that afternoon I left DC, this time letting the Ford Nav be happy and getting on the Express Lanes. Probably saved me about 15 or 20 minutes, which is not as bad as things can be in that neck of the woods. Back on the road, I planned to stop at the same EA station north of Richmond, VA. The only downside is I would get there a bit before 4pm, so didn't want to hang around too long so I could try to beat rush hour through Richmond. I plugged in at 35% SoC and charged for 24 minutes, adding about 31kW (about 78kW/hour). This got me to 80%, which wasn't quite enough to get home so I had to do one more stop.
My final stop was in at an EA station in Henderson, NC, which is also in a Walmart parking lot. I was the only car there, but for the first time that day P&C didn't work (even though the Ford app says it should be supported). I tried P&C a second time, but then went into the Ford app and initiated the charge there. That was successful and the electrons started flowing. I only charged for 10 minutes, plugging in at 20% and ending at 42%, adding 15.3kW (~92kW/hour, though that is probably skewed by the short session). I probably could have only done a 5 minute charging session, but by the time I walked inside to use the bathroom and headed back out, the 10 minutes had almost passed.
Having Blue Cruise (1.2) for the trip was great. There are still improvements that could be made, such as not slamming on the breaks if a car changes into your lane in front of you when it isn't going that slow, but still made for a relaxing trip overall. I usually take an ICE car to the DC area, and the comfort of the Mach-E's seats plus low noise made for a much more peaceful trip (as peaceful as being in the DC area can be).
Total charge time: 111 minutes (though that was higher than necessary)
Total kW delivered by the chargers: 119.8kW
Total miles driven: 512
I didn't use a trip meter in the car so don't know the actual average efficiency, but the on-screen display typically showed between 3.1 mi/kWh and 3.5 mi/kWh.
